Bank of America Checking Accounts Consumer Reviews - Page 4

NEW JERSEY -- On August 25, my payroll was direct deposited to my checking account. I didn't have much money in there and I knew it. My daughter, who leaves for work around 3 AM, wanted to know if I had any money so she could stop at the local convenience store before going to work. I went online (it was about 1:30 AM on Friday the 25th) and saw that my pay had deposited and that, after I paid my rent, I'd have about $200 left. So, I told her no problem - she could use my debit card to get something to eat.

On Wednesday, August 30, I received a notice in the mail of an overdrawn check with a NSF charge of $31. I knew this was impossible because I had checked my account myself and there were no checks posted against it when my pay was deposited. So, I went into my account and found to my wondering eyes that not only had a check mysteriously posted, but that it was backdated to August 24!!! Just before my payroll was deposited!!! And, of course, because it exceeded my balance that day, they charged me $31. Before BOA took over Fleet, I never had one bit of problem with my checking account.

Now, in two short months, I have been overdrawn twice - once with my Visa debit because they won't stop a transaction when there are no funds (and I was told that I would be charged the $31 regardless for trying to access insufficient funds) and once with a check that was not posted at 1:30 am on August 25 that mysteriously posted WITH AN AUGUST 24 DATE 5 DAYS LATER!!! They saw a chance to make some money and took it.

The Feds have already found these practices illegal - why the HELL aren't they doing anything about it??? I plan to close out this account and hightail it to my credit union. I have had this account since 1998 and have survived FOUR bank takeovers. Not until now has the bank who took over been this underhanded and blatantly fraudulent!! I plan to make screen prints of my account in the future before and after my direct deposits to make sure I have proof of their backdating schemes in the future until I finalize my account transfer. SCREW BOA! They are as useful as "tits on a boar hog", to quote my deceased father.

PROSPECT, CONNECTICUT -- I was just charged $140.00 in fees that Bank of America applied one day before they got around to posting a child support check ($758.00) that they received three days earlier. Then to add insult to injury, they gave me a $35.00 dollar "courtesy refund," whatever that means? According to CT Support Enforcement, my delinquent child support check was deposited in my Bank of America checking account on 1/6. Bank of America charged me $140.00 in fees on 1/9, and they posted my support check ($758.00) on 1/10.

When I complained, they wrote that after reviewing my case, they would issue a $35.00 credit, it's just utterly ridiculous! If they were in the right then how do they justify the $35.00 credit, was it a gift? I also love the sarcasm, "esteemed customer" and pointing out that my savings account was at zero! I'm a divorced mother of two, working 24 hours a week while taking the prerequisites for nursing and my child support was over a month behind! I don't think the banks in general are in any position to make sarcastic remarks about managing one's finances!

I have written to them several times to no avail! They claim they are justified and wrote the following, "Please be advised the $758 credit from CT Child Support is an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transaction. After reviewing the ACH transaction details our records show that the credit was scheduled by the initiator to post on 1/10/2012."

Why would CT Support Enforcement make me wait till the 10th to receive money belonging to me? How convenient for BOA! According to CT Support Enforcement's automated service the money was deposited on 1/6. Now after paying bills, I'm left with $40.00 in my account till next Friday, and I can't buy gas, groceries or anything else! The best part is that of the checks they "covered," not one of them totaled $35.00. Bank of America's policies are the sad result of corporate greed!

Hubby and I have had an Advantage checking account with BOA ever since they bought LaSalle Bank back in 2007 or 2008. Back then, it had a different name, obviously; but we had that account because we have/had a mortgage with them (Mortgage got transferred from ABN/AMRO/LaSalle to Citi in 2007 and we re'fied with Countrywide in 2008, which was then bought out by BOA, funny how things work out, huh?).

Anyway, this account requires that you keep an insane amount of money in your checking and or savings accounts, otherwise there's a $25 monthly maintenance fee. I can't remember exactly how much the balance has to be, but it's more than your average working-class American is likely to have. The way to have it waived is to have a sizable balance on an installment loan (like a car) or a mortgage with them. In all those years, even when our mortgage was with Citi and pre-buyout Countrywide, we NEVER had a fee assessed on our account (could be because we owed enough on our cars, but I'm not sure).

Fast forward to today. I was online, paying the bills, when I went to look at the transactions to make sure everything was present and accounted for. That's when I noticed it. A $25 Advantage checking maintenance fee. The first words out of my mouth were "oh, **, we're going to end up switching banks." But, before I started filling out my application for another bank, I checked on the requirements for the checking accounts. That's when I noticed the waiver for those who have a linked mortgage account.

I got on the phone and called customer service. After navigating through the phone tree jungle, I got a live person after a short (less than 5 minutes!) wait. I explained the problem and the findings of my investigation, and she took care of it for me right then and there. My money was refunded right away and she made sure everything was set up correctly to avoid this happening in the future. She also reassured me that that evil $5 debit card fee would not affect me when it took effect in January. I'm not saying that BOA is all sunshine and kittens, but at least they did right by me today.

I use BOA's electronic bill pay to take care of my and my wife's monthly payments. On June 21st, my insurance bill was paid out of my individual account as opposed to our joint account (my mistake). This drained my individual account as I was not expecting it to come from that account. On June 21st I filled out a change of address form (we are in the middle of a very chaotic move) online, and USPS charged $1. One June 21st I also filled my car with gas ($21), and the debit card was used at two soda machines ($1.25, and $1.25). For each of these I was charged a $35 overdraft fee.

One June 22nd, I accessed by BoA online account. I transferred the money that morning from the joint account to cover the bill amount and the overdraft fees to put my account back in the black. I called customer service, who informed me that I had only set up overdraft protection on my joint account with my wife (which I had not, I do recall when that was set up and I did indeed ask for overdraft protection on both accounts). The woman told me to call back the next morning. That evening (June 22nd) I received the alert notification set up on my account that my balance was at $0 (from June 21st), and that I had overdraft fees.

After calling BoA again this morning (June 23) I was informed by the customer service representative and their manager that they would only waive one of the $35 dollar fees, and that they could not do anything else about my situation. I was: a) not informed in the manner in which they advertised their alert system, b) charged a horrendous amount ($140!!!) for minor transactions (summing to about $25), c) given no benefit of the doubt from customer service despite having banked with them for three years. I will be moving every cent I have out of Bank of America within the next month.

I am a single mother living in Fort Washington MD, and open a checking account with Bank of America a few months ago. I understand that I over drew my account several times, but always corrected the matter when my automatic deposit from Home Depot was credited to my account. Yesterday I found that my account was closed/flagged with Risk Management, and could not understand why.

Today my automatic deposit was placed into my account that then put the account in a positive status. I can understand the closing of my account; I was new to the Checking Account and did over draw my account. But today I was told that I could not get my paycheck out of my account that I would have to wait till 11/16/09.

Mr. Lewis I am a single mother of a 14-month-old daughter, just starting over and live paycheck to paycheck. My daughter was/is very ill, and being tested for swine flu so I have been very stressed and worried. Now I have this money sitting in my account, and told that I cannot have it. When I asked if my car payment that is an automatic debit would be paid or returned, I was told it would be returned as well. I don't understand if I have funds in my account why this would be returned.

The employees I spoke within Risk management were very rude and short with me. I was very calm and stated several times I did not understand, and he treated me like I was a dead beat and not worth his time. Please help me. I just want to either pull my money out, so I can send my car payment off, pay my babysitter and purchase the medicine I need for my daughter, or at least post my car payment.

I know and understand I was the one that over drew my account, but is it ethical to hold someone's paycheck for 16 days? Is this a common practice that Bank of America does to someone who did not know how to handle a checking account? Instead of blindsiding someone, does Bank of America offer some type of classes or counseling to young adults just starting their first banking experience? Please advise me on how to handle this. 10/30/09 UPDATE: within 1 hour of sending this email to BOA CEO & President Ken Lewis, I got my money...Thank you Mr. Taft and Mr. Lewis...

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- I have had a student checking account with Bank of America since 2005 until today. My intention was to keep the account open while in school, although I primarily use my Wells Fargo College Checking. A week ago, I found out by mail that my account was overdrawn due to a mistake I made with auto pay. I spoke to a representative who gladly reversed the fee and ASSURED me I would receive no "extended overdrawn fee" so long as I deposited the balance by the next day.

Instead, I took extra precautions and deposited it that night in a BofA ATM. I was pleased with my encounter so I decided to stay with BofA. Additionally, I opted to receive emails when my account had insufficient funds to prevent further fees. A week later, I receive notice again, (at my old address which I had changed) that my account was overdrawn. Apparently, I DID receive an extended charge ($34) as well as another $34 charge due to a small purchase I made. Had I not received the extended charge, I would not have overdrawn my account AGAIN.

Of course, the second time I call BofA, the telephone banker is not so friendly and insists that because BofA already reversed one charge, I must pay the others. She heard my story, and would not address (1) the fact a telephone banker gave me incorrect information causing the ISF (2) why I never received an email alert (3) why my new address was not updated. You see, I was given no notice AND wrong information, and BofA refused to take any responsibility.

This is a bad way to treat a customer of nearly 5 years, so I would like to inform you of these business practices by BofA. Whether it is a competence issue, a training issue, or simply company policy, don't expect BofA to be held to the same strict standards that they hold their personal bankers.

I strongly recommend using Wells Fargo Student Checking because they offer people with good credit, a line of credit which allows for mistakes such as this to amount to one simple charge of $15. Instead I have paid $70 in charges not including the $34 charge which was reversed. Most college students have a busy schedule, and doubtless, if this situation happened to you, you may not notice until hundred of dollars of charges rack up. This could ruin you credit and result in collection's liens that will haunt you after college. Word to the wise, don't chose BofA.

VISALIA, CALIFORNIA -- We had ONE overdraft due to a check not being added to a ledger (that's how often we write checks). We called customer service and they gave us the amount we needed to deposit to bring everything into the black. We did this and everything just got worse. It was as if the bank gobbled up that money and just wanted MORE. Apparently, either their "customer service" can no longer PROVIDE true CUSTOMER SERVICE, or it's all a gamble once you get down below a couple of hundred dollars.

Due to the B of A's manipulating the order of transactions, my ONE overdraft charge turned into FOUR. We went into the local branch, and believe it or not, they were even MORE unhelpful. The CS clerk was lost and ineffective, so she called over the manager, who was just flat-out RUDE. She gave us a paper with a reference number and 800# for their "resolution line", and said we would be contacted within 48 hours.

We never received the call. We did end up calling them, and they lied twice more, or at least operated out of sheer ignorance, because on two follow-up calls to them, they said everything was resolved, apologized, and said the balance had been brought back to zero. It was NEVER resolved. The next day we were hit with $240 of cascading "extended overdraft fees".

I was laid off work, and we can't afford these fees. If we'd known that their "advice" would end up costing us much, much more, and that they actually don't KNOW what transactions are "pending", we would've done something completely different. Something changed in the banking industry. You smug folks who say "you just need to watch your money", have NO IDEA. That's what people said about those who invested with Bernie Madoff.

At this point, we are stuck. Apparently the fees will continue to grow, so we will try and find counsel with an accountant or legal person we trust. We have already cancelled our direct deposit with them, and want to just get OUT. It's hard to know who or what to trust these days. I still think the little guy has power, but we must speak with one voice. Class-action suit, anyone?

I opened up an account with BOFA back in April of 2009 I believe it was and got online one day to check my account because I knew I had a transaction coming through and I noticed I was under a dollar short of the balance so I transferred the exact change from my savings to my checking to make sure it cleared.

The next day I got online and noticed I was negative and had an over drawn fee so as I looked it over I realized they reversed my transfer, posted my debit overdrew my account, and then accepted my transfer but posted it the next day! I fought with ** online for 45 min trying to get it fixed and they would do nothing!

Next incident I checked my account to see how much was in there because I needed to purchase a few things and knew I had a debit coming through but also knew I would get paid the next day so if it hits before I got paid I would just accept the overdraft fee and pay it. Got online in the next couple of days and they had switched all my debits around and posted the one I was waiting on to come through first because it was the largest which then made all my 5 other debits that were already showing up in my account over draw and then charged me 175 in over draft fees.

I called up complaining and they told me that was how they did things! It doesn't matter what is showing up and how much it shows you have because at the end of the day they pull everything and post all your debits and credits from that day from largest to smallest. I told the guy that was a bunch of crap they should go in the way they are purchased the same way I write them in my check book not how they think they can just get more money out of me. I told him if my debits were posted that day the way they COME THROUGH then I'd have only had one overdraft fee.

After the 2nd time this happening again I went in to close my account because they again screwed over my account and charged me 175 in overdraft fees. So in five months Bank of America has ripped me off in close to $400 in over draft fees! No more! No where does it say FYI at the end of the day we will take all your debits and post them as we wish from largest to smallest. I told them I was going to go to the BBB and the media to stop them from doing this to anyone else.

TAMPA, FL, FLORIDA -- Bank of America changed their overdraft fee policy to charge fees when the account is not overdrawn, and they have increased the amount of the fee. I was an employee, so I am familiar with their fee policies. On 9/8/09, I went online and I had two charges for $14.44 from a printer ink company as pending authorizations on my account. I was concerned, because it was only supposed to be charged once, but knowing from my past employment, fees are not charged until after a transactions is "hard posted" to the account, so I did not worry.

On 9/9/09, the second authorization dropped off of my account and only one transaction "hard posted" to my account, leaving me with a positive balance. Now, since the overdraft fee was pending, and the second authorization fell off of my account making my account positive, I thought maybe the overdraft fee would also fall off. I was wrong!

I checked my account online on 9/11/09, and Bank of America posted the fee to my account anyway on 9/10/09 which put my account into a negative balance! I called Bank of America's 800 number (1-800-432-1000), and after waiting over 15 minutes for an associate, I was told by the associate to click on the available balance history in the left side of the screen, and it showed the pending authorization that overdrew the account.

Pending authorizations aren't paid transactions! I went to my local banking center and the banking associate also told me the same thing...that I'm being charged an OD fee, because of my authorization that WAS pending on my account. That authorization is not on my account anymore!!! I should not be charged an OD fee!!!

From working for the bank for two years, I have learned that some merchants would send two authorizations through, the first one to make sure the account is open and there are funds available, and the second authorization that will actually POST to the account. Since Bank of America is now charging overdraft fees for pending authorizations that overdraft the account, I fear that I will get many more fees even though those pending transactions were never paid!

And, I fear if a charge comes in, because the overdraft fee put my account into a negative balance, I will be charged even more fees! They have also started charging an extra $10 dollars when you first overdraft the account, and if you don't make a deposit within 5 business days, you will also be charged another overdraft fee of $35. That's $45!!!